If Justin Trudeau doesn’t get rid of the carbon tax, Canadians will get rid of him. That was the message from Ontario Premier Doug Ford on the heels of a hike to the beleaguered tax.
Ford had harsh words for Trudeau at a press conference Tuesday, one day after the Liberals raised the carbon tax by 23%, “against the urging of premiers of every political stripe,” costing Canadians 17.06 cents more per litre of gas.
“This carbon tax has to go, or in a year and a half, the prime minister’s going. It’s as simple as that. He will be going, I’ll guarantee you,” Ford said. “He will not be there if he doesn’t start looking after the people and the businesses of Ontario.”
At his own press conference Monday, Trudeau defended his carbon tax hike. He said the carbon tax may be rising, but so is the rebate. Ford said that doesn’t cut it.
“This isn’t the first time they’ve raised the carbon tax, but it couldn’t come at a worse time,” Ford said. “At a time when the cost of living has never been higher.”
The premier said his government has been fighting against the federal carbon tax for years, having taken the Trudeau government to court over the policy. The Supreme Court of Canada ultimately upheld it.
“Our government will never stop fighting the federal government on the terrible carbon tax,” Ford said.
Ford used his press conference to take shots at Ontario Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie calling her “The Queen of the Carbon Tax” despite her recent statements saying she would not impose a provincial carbon tax if elected.
“As a Liberal MP, she was one of the first people in Canada to support the carbon tax,” Ford said. “Just last week, when given the opportunity to vote against the carbon tax, every single one of Bonnie Crombie’s Liberal MPs sat on their hands and did absolutely nothing.”
Crombie served as a Liberal MP before entering municipal politics in Mississauga and later becoming leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Ford said fuel and energy costs account for 30% of inflation, and this tax hike will raise the price of everything from packaging to travel.
Ford focused not just on the carbon tax but on the cost of living and business in general.
“I call out the Bank of Canada. We have to start lowering these interest rates. You’re going to end up killing people over the next year or two years when they renew their mortgages, and you’re just gouging these people.”
The Bank of Canada’s key interest rate has been held steady at 5%. The next interest rate announcement is scheduled for April 10.
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